Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

[Rhythmdoc]

My wife and I are starting our outdoor patio/kitchen project in April. It includes two discrete patios: one with an outdoor fireplace, and a second with an outdoor kitchen/bar.

The outdoor kitchen is U shaped, with the dimensions from left to right: 12' X 19' X 19'. There will be a buffet/serving table as shown. An Artigiano100 will be constructed on a 45. I envision a 5' food prep area to the right of the WFO. The arm to the right of the WFO will be counter height. The two arms to the left will be split counter/bar heights.

I need help with appliance location. To the right of the food prep area, I am installing a 54" built in grill and double side burner. I have a 24" undercounter refrigerator I was considering installing under the food prep counter. I also have a built in bar unit(sink, ice cooler, etc.), kegerator, refrigerator drawers, that I was considering installing in the locations as marked. I also have a built in garbage and a set of storage drawers I need to find a home for. I was thinking the current location keeps the beverage traffic out of my way, and allows for a common food prep area for both the WFO and grill. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for any comments/help you can provide. -John

[Spunkoid]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

If the fridge were used mostly for food items, then have it by the food prep area, if it is going to used for beverages, then by the bar. Need to better understand the rest of the layout such as where will people be eating or mingling. I don't have an outdoor kitchen per se but when I have people over and am cooking out of the forno, they all like to wander in and around the oven itself so flow that direction to me is fairly important. I have a portable serving table that I sometimes put right in front of the oven to keep people back just a bit when I am using a pizza peel...

[Rhythmdoc]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

Spunkoid,
Thanks for the advice. I figured the fridge would be mostly for food, and I have refrigerator drawers I was going to keep beverages in on the opposite side of the "u."
It's funny you mentioned about the attraction of the oven- I originally just had the "u" without the buffet table, but after reading multiple threads I got concerned by how open it would be with crowding around the oven. I thought adding the buffet table would be practical as well as functional, keeping people at a distance, and thus limiting the possibility of an ER visit related to a pizza peel!
I will have bar stools around the outside of the "u" on two sides(with the upper bar height counter). I thought this would allow me to socialize as well as prepare food at the same time(not that I am a great multitasker to begin with). I have a second seating area with tables away from the bar(will post pictures after I get started...)

[Les]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

I thought adding the buffet table would be practical as well as functional, keeping people at a distance..

Not gonna happen my friend. I've hit people with my elbows working the peel. They WILL get close to take a look. I think your layout looks great - have fun!

[Tscarborough]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

Food service should be oriented around a triangle: Fridge, sink, stove (or oven). To keep people out of your way, make a counter/bar where they are close enough to talk to you but still barred from getting in the way. I do not have a fridge in my ODK, but if I did it would be in an island in the middle, facing the oven.

[nissanneill]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

Rhythmdoc
don't worry about people getting in your way, you just need to stay out of their way!
We demonstrate newcomers to our pizza fests how to make their pizzas and then let them roll/toss their pre-prepared dough balls. select and apply pastes/sauces, assemble their pizzas and cook them.
With mine made, I stand back and let them do their own thing. Because I make smaller bases, I make a second, or at least get in the queue but there is a bottleneck in the oven as they make their pizzas quicker than they cook, even though we can get 5 in at once.
Do a dummy run with makeshift benches/boxes to see how the spacings and arrangements work for your chosen area.

Neill

[Bacterium]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

I like Neill's approach. With my first oven it was great to entertain and rewarding to see peoples faces of how much they enjoyed it.....but as people went home for the night I'd be pretty stuffed by the end, from all the work. This time around (oven #2) I've not built my oven into a corner (not to say that won't work tho) with the intention of the kids and friends being able to cook or at least get more hands on. I can see the above layout approaches (triangle or rectangle) should work. Def. agree on the beverages being off to one side.

Tscarborough I like the angled brick work on your oven side........near the plants.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

Thank you, it is like that all the way around the counter, and it was a PIA.

[Bacterium]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

Ah I can see it, subtle in among the complete pic.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

I did it to drive my mason friends insane.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

I think welders fall in the same category as masons, they prefer everything at 90 degrees and perfectly straight. The welders in my group can spot a pipe that is 1/16" out of plumb!!

[stonecutter]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

I think welders fall in the same category as masons, they prefer everything at 90 degrees and perfectly straight.

Maybe unit installers..but not us Stonemasons!!!

[Rhythmdoc]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

Thanks for all of the input. I think I will keep the oven in the corner, however, after the pavers are laid out, I will have flexibility with the size/exact location of the serving/buffet table. I am also not ruling out a smaller island type table across from the WFO. It's difficult to visualize, as it is all just now faded paint on my lawn....
Tscarborough your oven is beautiful, which leads me to the "800 pound gorilla" in my "virtual" room. These forums are quite humbling, and I was reluctant to post, as I am not personally building my patio or doing the stonework on my oven. There, I said it, figured I'd get it out of the way early. Suffice it to say I am not as skilled as the talent present on these forums. In addition, the time requirement would put my first pizza firing at roughly the time my son enters college(he's now 12).
PS- this site is addictive! I think my wife is starting to question my fidelity with the amount of time I'm spending on my laptop.........

[Tscarborough]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

The object of the site is an oven. Just be sure whoever you trust to build it understands the correct way to do so, because being a mason does not make you an oven builder. Hell, being an oven builder does not mean you do it right, as I can attest from seeing and helping people who had their funny looking fireplaces* built by an "experienced oven builder".

*What I call an uninsulated, wrongly vented horno, usually of Middle to South American traditional mud design.

[Rhythmdoc]

Re: Outdoor Kitchen Design Help!!!

Great advice. I spent months on these forums doing research before I committed to the idea of a WFO. Indeed, I interviewed quite a few "masons" for the job. It's funny how with a few simple questions I was able to weed out a few "experienced" masons. I will be on site for the oven build to make sure it is constructed accordingly and by the book. It's funny how many masons tried to tell me you don't need insulation under the oven floor, because "heat rises." Again, Tscarborough, beautiful oven, I'm officially jealous!